Thursday, July 06, 2006

Nooma Videos

If you haven't heard of NOOMA, you are probably in the majority of the world. NOOMA is a company that has been set up to produce short films (10-12 minutes) that deal with God issues. I first found out about NOOMA two years ago and fell in love with all their videos since -13. The main communicator is Rob Bell, pastor of Mars Hill in Grand Rapid Michigan - I thought he was the only communicator, but I heard that other communicators are soon to join Rob at Nooma.

What does Nooma mean?
The name NOOMA is an English phonetic spelling of the Greek word pneuma, which is commonly translated to “spirit” or “breath”. Pneumatology refers to the study of spiritual beings, particularly the interactions between humans and God.

Where do I find Nooma Videos?
Nooma videos can be order and watch (small clips) at www.nooma.com and they have been picked up by Zondervan and can be found at Family Christian Bookstores.

Why am I writing about Nooma?
Well - before this week my favorite noomas were "Sunday" and "Bullhorn". But my new favorite is number13- "Rich." Not so much in scenery and camera work (which is awesome in all of the brilliant short films) but the content. AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME! I have watched it twice in three days. This issue has been on my heart for several months - GIVING (not so much money, but our lives...time, sweat, energy etc)
The conversation (Rob Bell and you) starts with a bummer sticker Rob saw "God Bless America" and Rob tells how God has already blessed America -
  • The USA makes up 6% of the World's Population and uses 40% of its resources
  • Only 8% of the world's population have cars
  • Over 1 billion people don't have clean drinking water
  • 800 million people will not eat today & 300 Million are kids
  • Around a billion people in the world live on a dollar a day (if we get a dr pepper for a dollar we are lucky!)
  • Experts say to give EVERYONE in the world basics of life (clean water, food, shelter and even electricity) would cost $20 Billion....that is how much Americans spend on ice cream in ONE YEAR!

How rich are we? We take clean water for granted. We take our cars for granted. We take our food for granted. We are SO RICH! Everything we have is a gift. Lets start sharing the gift. May we as children of God help take care of those who need lifted up. Not so that we feel good about our selves, but because God has called us to. Commanded us to.

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with EVERYTHING for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." 1 Timothy 6:17-19 NIV

4 comments:

The Addison Onion said...

i LOVE nooma! we watch them in my small group... they rock, my favorite is Dust.

good luck with the move.
lindz

Ian and Sally said...

i payed $1.25 for a Coke yesterday (the machine was out of Dr. Peppers)...

Gene said...

Good post re: how blessed we are and our incredible wealth.

Check out www.globalrichlist.com and you'll see just how rich Americans are.

Anonymous said...

Did you know that ALL of the proceeds from the sales of the 13th NOOMA "Rich" in the Rob Bell series are being donated to charitable organizations?